Filed under: Exhibit Installation | Tags: archeology, Columbus, COSI, Egypt, Lost Egypt: Ancient Secrets, Modern Science, mummy, museum, science
Today, we moved “Annie” our mummy to her new glass encased home where she will be on display through September 7, 2009. You could hear a pin drop as we rolled her down the hallway.
Filed under: Construction News | Tags: Aaron Dysart, Association of Science Technology Centers, ASTC, Blue Rhino, camel, COSI, Dan Miller, Dave Leak, Dick Leerhoff, Jeff Nelson, Jim Burt, Lost Egypt, Nikkia Vredenburg, Philadelphia, Ryan Dahl, Sarah, science museum of minnesota, Tim Quady
Author: Kate
Our camel, Sarah, is finished! She will be joining us at the Association of Science-Technology Centers conference in Philadelphia in a couple of weeks before coming to live at COSI until Lost Egypt opens. I’m hoping I can get a luggage strap and some wheels and pull her through the Philadelphia airport as my carry-on item (although I’m guessing she won’t fit under the seat in front of me…).
We want to give a huge thank you to the Blue Rhino Studio folks who created our delightful dromedary – Jim Burt (left) is the main sculptor at Blue Rhino Studio – he sculpted Sarah. Also shown are Jeff Nelson, Aaron Dysart, Nikkia Vredenburg and Ryan Dahl. Not pictured are Dave Leak and Tim Quady. We all enjoyed working with them, checking on Sarah’s progress, and visiting Blue Rhino Studio!
We’re also grateful to our partners at the Science Museum of Minnesota who worked on Sarah, including Dan Miller and Dick Leerhoff, who are pictured here.
Thank you!
Filed under: Partnerships | Tags: American Electric Power, COSI, Einstein, Extreme Screen, Lost Egypt, Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs, Sesame Street presents: The Body
We are thrilled to share that Lost Egypt officially has its first sponsor! American Electric Power, a long-time friend and supporter of COSI, recently agreed to be the Presenting Sponsor of Lost Egypt.
American Electric Power’s sponsorship supports COSI’s annual fund, which will enable COSI to provide COSI guests, members, and donors of all ages dozens of special events and programs to complement the Lost Egypt exhibition, including:
- Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs film on COSI’s 7-Story Extreme Screen
- Member and Donor Lost Egypt preview events
- Special events or lectures featuring archaeological or ancient Egypt experts
- Educational programs like camps and workshops for students of all ages
Over the past 18 years, American Electric Power has remained one of COSI’s greatest supporters and closest friends. American Electric Power’s sponsorship of popular exhibitions like Einstein (spring of 2007) and Sesame Street Presents: The Body (open October 4, 2008 to January 4, 2009) makes it possible to bring unique, quality educational experiences to our community that create meaningful, lasting memories for all COSI visitors, both young and old.
Filed under: Construction News | Tags: Blue Rhino Studios, camel, COSI, Dan Miller, Dick Leerhoff, Egypt, Lost Egypt, saddle, Sarah, science museum of minnesota, SMM
Author: Kate
Our camel (who we’ve nicknamed Sarah) is almost finished! A couple of our Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) partners headed to Blue Rhino Studios to see the progress. To see if the camel is going to hold up as thousands of kids climb on it, we have to test it (that’s the fun part!), so here’s the team at Blue Rhino, as well as Dan Miller and Dick Leerhoff from SMM hard at work!
Blue Rhino Testers
Dan Miller and Camel
Dick Leerhoff and Camel
Since last time, the eyes, ears, and teeth have been added, and the camel has been painted.
Camel Face
Camel Face
Sarah’s hump is pretty tall, and we’ve had to think about how people will climb into the saddle. We designed the saddle similar to real ones on camels, and we’ll be adding some decoration like blankets to soften it up. We have added a stirrup as well to help the riders.
Complete Camel
It’s been amazing seeing Sarah emerge from a block of foam, being sculpted into a camel that looks just like the ones we saw in Egypt!
Filed under: Construction News | Tags: COSI, hieroglyphics, Karnak, Lost Egypt, Luxor, stone, temple complex, tombs
Author: Kate
This is one of the rooms that will be in the Lost Egypt exhibit – an area talking about tombs, artwork and hieroglyphics.
Hieroglyphic Room 1
When the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids and tombs, they used solid materials like limestone and granite. On the Lost Egypt project, we need materials that are going to be durable (although not quite as durable as the Pyramids!) to last for the entire 6+ year tour of the exhibition, as it travels around the U.S., but also lightweight and easy to assemble at each new location. Wood panels that fit together using camlocks are a good solution. Showing up at the next venue with semi trucks filled with limestone ready for assembly would be a bit challenging….where are those pyramid builders when you need them?
Hieroglyphic Room 2
Hieroglyphic Room 3
We modeled the front façade of this room after the Karnak and Luxor temple complexes we saw in Luxor, Egypt. Transforming the simple wood structures into something that looks like stone is going to take some work, and involve the help of our Science Museum of Minnesota partners and scenic painters.
Temple Complex
Filed under: Construction News | Tags: Blue Rhino Studios, camel, clay, COSI, Lost Egypt, model, sculpting
Author: Josh
The camel is moving forward! We approved the initial design, and now the folks at Blue Rhino Studios are working on blowing him up to full size. And full size is, well, full size. Camels are big!
Camel Prototype
The designers sent us this maquette of the camel. We had already looked at an earlier model and made a few suggestions (like raising her head up more, having her eyes open, and making her “smile”) that, as you can see, they changed on this model. Since we approved the model, they moved into the next phase, which is making the actual camel that we’ll use in the exhibit.
Rough Camel
As you can see, they started with a big lump of clay. You can see how the outline of the camel is there in the shape. You can also get a feel for how big she’s going to be—look at the guy who’s working on her!
Sculpted Camel
Next, they start adding details and refining some of her features. Features like her ears and tail are added later; you can see the wire that they’ll be forming her ears around. As Blue Rhino keeps moving forward, we’ll keep you posted. I can’t wait to see her when she gets done!
Filed under: The Big Picture | Tags: archaeology, COSI, Lost Egypt, Sarah Parcak, sattelite image
Another of the archaeologists whom we have interviewed for the exhibit is Sarah Parcak. She has been doing some really cool work on finding sites using satellite imagery, and she’s been called the first person to use this imagery to find new sites in Egypt.
Dr. Parcak works at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. It’s a little odd to think of an archaeologist doing a lot of “field work” at a computer station, but that’s exactly what she’s doing. One of the tricky things about archaeology is that the people who practice it are often looking for things that are hidden, buried underground for long periods of time (have you ever seen the drawings Napoleon’s team did of the Sphinx buried up to its neck in sand?). Archaeologists used to (and sometimes still do) rely on logic, perseverance, and luck when looking for new sites. They would dig in places where they had deduced that a site should be based upon the available evidence (like the team that discovered the Lost City of the Pyramid Builders), or they would jump on chance discoveries made by the local human or even animal population (like the donkey who accidentally stepped into the graves now known as The Valley of the Golden Mummies). But because of the satellite imaging that is now being done by Dr. Parcak and others, archaeologists are better able to determine exactly where to dig before ever even setting foot there.
Her tools range from old still images from spy satellites to cutting-edge digital scanning filters that can detect differences in the water content of soil. She even uses Google Earth to search known sites from above and look for previously unknown features. To date, Dr. Parcak has discovered more than 150 previously unknown sites, with the promise of many, many more; she estimates that only about 0.01 percent of ancient Egypt has been uncovered!
Try it yourself! In Google Earth, visit Amarna, a vast ancient site and the capitol of Egypt during the reign of Akhenaten (27°39’24”N, 30°54’22”E). See if you can tell the difference between the modern town and what’s buried just to the south of it!
We just heard some fascinating new news out of Egypt. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General for the Supreme Council of Antiquities, recently announced that the remains of a previously unknown pyramid have been found in Saqqara (the site of Djoser’s Step Pyramid, among other sites). This is a story that has all the trappings of Egyptian archaeology.
First, when I said “previously unknown,” that isn’t entirely true. The foundations of the pyramid were first described in modern history by a German archaeologist named Karl Richard Lepsius in 1842. Unfortunately, though, the site became buried under sand and was considered lost until this announcement of its rediscovery. This is common in Egypt. Sometimes sand and debris from one dig is unknowingly moved on top of another site, through no fault on the part of the archaeologists—there’s just no way of knowing there’s something underneath of you. Other times the desert simply swallows the site, even if it has been uncovered in modern times. Let’s face it—there’s a lot of sand that can cover things up in a desert!
Second, the really, really old stuff once again has a way of superseding the stuff that’s just really old. The team who disclosed the pyramid discovery also announced the discovery of part of a ceremonial procession road used by ancient Egyptian priests over 2200 years ago. 2200 years ago! That’s before the time of the Roman Empire, the Islamic Golden Age, Mesoamerican empires such as the Mayans and Aztecs, and many other ancient cultures. Problem is, this road is predated by the pyramid by another 2200 years. That’s right—at the time this newly discovered road was built, our “newly discovered” headless pyramid was already more than 2000 years old. It has been really interesting hearing some of our project advisers discuss how the Late Period of Egyptian history is often found uninteresting simply because it feels “too new,” which is a shame because the Late Period has some fascinating history connected to it.
Finally, we have a little controversy. The “newly discovered” (sorry, can’t help but keep up the quotes on that) pyramid has not yet yielded any cartouches (i.e. names of pharaohs) at the site. Because we can’t carbon date stone, this means that archaeologists have to compare the pyramid’s features to the features of other pyramids in order to figure out how old it is and for whom it was built. While most scholars seem to agree that it was built for Menkauhor, a Fifth Dynasty pharaoh, others are arguing that it could belong to a Tenth or Twelfth Dynasty pharaoh, a discrepancy of more than 600 years. For me, this is where some of the excitement of archaeology comes across. We can never know with absolute certainty that our conclusions about the past are correct, mostly because, well, it’s the past (I usually can’t recall what happened last week with absolute clarity, and I was there). The best archaeologists can do is come up with stronger evidence to prove their point. The strongest evidence comes out on top, at least until someone comes up with stronger contrary evidence. As with most things in life, the more you know, the better equipped you are to prove your point. Not a bad lesson for a 4400 year old incomplete pyramid.
Filed under: Construction News | Tags: blog, camel, COSI, Lost Egypt, prototype, Saqqara
Author: Kate Storm
We’re working on my favorite exhibit components for Lost Egypt – a life-sized camel! Our project partners on the exhibition, The Science Museum of Minnesota, found an amazing company, Blue Rhino Studios – http://www.rhinocentral.com/profile.html – to design and build a camel for us.
We’ve been looking at materials, size, scale, and all the other issues that go into designing a large one-humped camel, aka “Camelus dromedarius,” if you like to know the Latin genus and species. One-humped camels are called dromedaries, and are found in North Africa and the Near East. Two-humped camels are called bactrians or “Camelus bactrianus,” and are typically found in central Asia. We only saw the dromedaries in Egypt, probably because it’s in North Africa.
While camels aren’t really used much for transportation in Egypt today, you can still see them at the Giza Plateau and at Saqqara. We saw the camel below, which gave rides to tourists. I loved the colorful halter, although the picture really can’t capture the smell of a camel in the hot sun, which is definitely something…memorable. See the long eyelashes? They’re great for protecting the camel’s eyes from the desert sand.
In Saqqara, the guards rode camels, so the gear was less gaudy and more utilitarian. We needed to get photo references for Blue Rhino while we were in Egypt, since it’s challenging to figure out exactly what a camel looks like lying down. Their legs fold in on themselves like origami – very strange! So we asked the guards if we could take pictures of their guard camel. They laughed when they noticed us taking this photo of the back end.
Blue Rhino has produced lots of other animals as well – check out the detail on the moose, bobcat, and other animals on their website. The artists at their studio have designed a small clay model, called a maquette, which you can see below.
A maquette is a small scale model which is useful to test your concepts, without the expense of producing a full-sized version. This prototype is studied by the whole design team, and changes are made to it. We’ve already made several changes to our camel based on the maquette, including the way the head is turned and the angle of the neck. The human being in the model is scaled to represent someone 6’ tall, just to give an idea of the camel’s size. I can’t wait to see this when it’s done!
Filed under: Trip to Egypt | Tags: Cairo, COSI, Egypt, exhibit, Giza, interview, Lost City, Lost Egypt, Mark Lehner
Author: Josh
Sorry for our missing entries from yesterday-we stole some moments in the afternoon for some much-needed rest, sleep that was pretty much negated by another late-night flight (this time, back to Cairo) followed by another 5 am alarm clock bell. But please don’t regard this as a complaint. While we have certainly been burning the candle at both ends, there is no doubt in my mind that this trip has been a wild success.
After spending our time yesterday refining the rest of our itinerary, rewriting some interviews, and reviewing our remaining shots, we had the chance to film some more incredible interviews today. As Carli mentioned, we met with Dr. Mark Lehner, who was absolutely amazing.
After having spent so much time the past few months reading about Mark’s work, the opportunity to sit down with this remarkable scientist was one of the high water marks of my professional career. Hearing him speak so passionately and eloquently about archaeology in general and Giza specifically, and visualizing the way his words melded beautifully with our exhibit…well, words fail to describe.
But in addition to meeting with Mark, we had the pleasure of meeting with some of the members of his team at the Giza site. We spoke with Mary Anne Murray, an archaeobotanist, Anna Wodlinska, a ceramicist, and Camilla Mazzucato, a GIS specialist. Each of these women provided us with more wonderful insight into their jobs at the Lost City and how what they do is influenced and enhanced by the other members of their team.
It’s been a revelation to me just how wonderful and gracious each and every person whom we’ve interviewed has been thus far. They’ve given freely and happily of their time, in some cases with very late notice, and each and every expert has provided us with more real scientific information that we can place directly into Lost Egypt. I can’t imagine having created this exhibit without their thoughts, expertise, and good will. If any of you are reading this now, again, I thank you.
It’s hard to believe that we will leave this wonderful place in just over a day. Each and every day here brings new discoveries and more breathtaking sites, and our little exhibit has grown infinitely stronger with each passing hour. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to return…well, no time for sentiment now. We’ve another full day tomorrow.
Filed under: Trip to Egypt | Tags: archaeology, chickens, COSI, Egypt, food, gifts, Khan el-Khalili, Led Zeppelin, market, money, Nile, street
Author: Kate
We were happy to see Ana again today and to meet with her team. Going through the interviews and conversations with these people really brought home the interdisciplinary nature of science. Each one’s work influences the other, and the synergy that results provides new insights into our world. It was such a gift to meet with each of them, and we are so grateful. All the experiences we’ve had here have allowed us to better tell the story of Egyptian archaeology in our exhibit, but the scientist’s stories are providing such a beautiful and direct look into what science is all about. Amazing.
As a contrast to our extraordinary morning, we went shopping later today at the Khan el-Khalili market – a huge open market with hundreds of vendors lined up on street after street, selling everything: food (fresh oranges and bananas, live chickens, candy), clothing (t-shirts, belly-dancing outfits, galabyas, and thousands of scarves), gifts (wooden inlaid boxes, brass lanterns shaped like stars, incense, spices), and just about anything else you could imagine.
We bought a few brass lanterns for the exhibit, but spent most of our time just getting used to the shopkeeper’s teasing, “I miss your money!” and the sights, sounds and smells (mostly good smells, by the way – incense, cooking food, baking bread). Being there was like being in a movie – just unreal. I kept expecting a director to yell “Cut. Now, let’s get a few more donkeys in the scene, and where’s my smoke machine?!” The experience was topped off by riding back to the hotel listening to Led Zeppelin on the taxi’s radio, as we crossed the Nile River. The two worlds merge and clash in ways that are both startling and funny.
Filed under: Trip to Egypt | Tags: animals, children, COSI, culture, donkey, Egypt, family, farm, Valley of the Kings, wives
Author: Carli
On our way back to the hotel after a long hot day in the Valley of the Kings, with another layer of tomb dust on our boots, and astounding photos and memories locked in our minds, we stopped at a small farm house in the middle of a sugar cane field. We took photos and video of the young men working in the field, and were invited into the mud-brick house by the father and his two wives (yes, two).
They must have had ten or twelve children, who were gracious and showed us around their home. The floors and walls were made of mud, and their beds were made of sheets on the ground. The children wore tattered clothing and pajamas but were well fed and laughed contagiously. One of the older girls grabbed my hand and said, “madam, madam, I show you something.”
With cautious curiosity I followed her into a roofless room in the house which housed their animals. One of the goats had a young kid, which couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old. The girls picked up the baby animal and brought him to me to pet. Their cows were a bit spooked by our invasion, and I kept tripping over ducks and buckets of feed. Then the father motioned me over to the donkey for a test ride. I climbed up onto their donkey, and they placed one of their youngest daughters in front of me.
We had a great laugh, and the older daughter who had led me around the home asked if it was my first time on a donkey, which was clearly evident from the way the poor animal shifted from side to side trying to remove the obvious rookie from his back. We thanked them for their hospitality and gave them “baksheesh” (tips) for their willingness to share their lives on camera, and then we somehow switched off the urge to cry, and got back on our air-conditioned bus to hit the hotel buffet before the crowds.
The family was strong, happy, and healthy, yet their livelihood might as well have been on another planet. It was so foreign. Our guide, Ehab, said that the farmer probably makes at most $2000 Egyptian pounds per month, which is the equivalent of about $400 US dollars. But he also said that this is the lifestyle that they are used to; they wouldn’t know what to do with any more. Yet somehow I can’t help but wish to do more.
Filed under: Trip to Egypt | Tags: COSI, greek, hot, memory card, photo, Rameses, roman, tomb, Valley of the Kings
Author: Kate
The tombs in the Valley of the Kings were magnificent. This was the perfect ending of our tomb touring days. Walking into these tombs was exactly as I imagined it – a long stone ramp going ever downward. Without modern electric lights, it must have felt like descending into the underworld just to go inside one. Twice today, the lights went out for a couple of minutes while we were inside. In the first tomb we visited, there was a long ramp leading to the entrance, so you could still easily see daylight, but in the second, we were far enough in that it was completely dark – you couldn’t see anything at all. I loved it. I thought, this is what it was like when it was first built. Peaceful, dark, eternal.
The first tomb we visited was KV 9, the Tomb of Rameses VI. The tomb has been uncovered for a very long time – there’s even Greek and Roman graffiti on the walls in some places. It is filled with incredibly brilliant color decorations of religious iconography, including the gods and goddesses. We were very excited about this – the photos and videos are beautiful. At one point we asked if the color had been restored, since it seemed impossible for it to have survived intact for so long, but our guide Ehab said no, this was all original, just very well preserved. At the end of the long ramp down, there was an enormous stone sarcophagus – truly worthy of a king.
Tomb of Rameses VI – Narrated by Carli
The second tomb we saw was a surprise. We had intended to visit Rameses III next, but when Josh and I scouted ahead, it was so swamped with people, we could barely move through it (it was like COSI on its busiest day, but in a very narrow passage, and a temperature of probably 95 degrees Fahrenheit inside-you’d think the tombs would be cooler inside, but with all the people going through, and the lack of air circulation, it’s like a sauna). But Ehab suggested that instead we visit KV14, the tomb of Tausert, who was the royal wife of Sety II, then she became regent of Siptah, and finally, the last ruler of the 19th Dynasty.
The tomb has two large burial chambers, and it is thought that perhaps both Tausert and her husband were supposed to be buried there. The tomb decorations reflect how her role and status changed over time – shifting from the usual decorations for a queen’s tomb, such as scenes from the gates of the underworld and their guardians, to decorative themes more appropriate of a king’s tomb. The tomb was taken over for the burial of someone else, Seknakht, and all the images of Tausert were plastered over and replaced by images of Seknakht or his cartouches. This tomb was so beautiful. The big chambers were stunning – can’t wait to show the pictures!
The last tomb we saw was KV 34, the tomb of Thutmes III. The images and writing are done in a cursive style that mimics the writing on a roll of papyrus. Very charming and simple compared to the ornate decoration of the other tombs. Unfortunately, much of the tomb is behind Plexiglas (well, unfortunately for us, but obviously a good thing for the unique artwork!), so there are not as many images of this one.
The biggest challenge we faced was trying to photograph and film everything while tourists filed in. The site supervisor, guards and others were incredibly helpful in every location, and we’ll always be very grateful for their kind assistance! In the last tomb, we accidentally dropped a memory card into a shaft (probably 50 feet down??).
We were frantic, since it contained all the shots from the entire day. But as we were told, “In Egypt, whatever the problem, we will find a solution!” And they did. Several men came back with a long rope, which one of them wrapped several times around his waist. The others stood as if playing tug-of-war, and carefully lowered him to the bottom. There, he found our lost card, and they pulled him back up. Their generosity was overwhelming and deeply appreciated.
